Cup-container.



H. HILL.

CUP CONTAINER. APPLICATION FILED 1AN.8. I9Is.

1,201,963. .v I Patented oct.. I?, 1916.

attain,

HARRIET HILL, 0F .NEW YORK, N. Y.

CUP-CONTAINER.

i Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 17, 1916.

Applieationled J' anuary 8,1916.. SerialNo. 71,039.

To all whom' t may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRIET HILL, a citizen of lthe United States, residing at New York city, in the county ofv New York and State of New York, have invented new andY With this object in view the container comprises a cylindrical body, preferably of paper, closed at one end by a cap and having fitted at its other .end a head provided at its central portion with a series of radially disposed incisions, the material between which constitute tongues. tongues are connected together by the central portion of the head and the said central portion is in the form of a disk which may be detached from the connecting tongues, thereby providing an opening between the inner ends of the tongues. When the container is in use for holding the cups while being dispensed, the lowermost cup of a stack of cups passes between the inner ends of the tonguesl and the said tongues'are de- 'iiected or bent in' a downward direction.

The endportions 'of the tongues bear against the upper side portion of the lowermost cup lowermost cup4 of the stack, and thus' the4 and thus the stack of cups is held in the container'. When the lowermost cup is removed from'the'stack by drawing the same in al downward direction from between thel tongues, the said tongues engage the next stack is heldin position in the container. In the accompanying drawing :-F1gu re lis a side elevation of the container. Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view ofthe same. f V

AThe container comprises a vcylindrical body 1, 'preferably of paper, formed by winding the strip of paper spirally, as indicated in Fig.` 1 of the drawing. A cap '2 closes` one end of the body 1 and any s uit-.

able supporting means, as for instance a hook, (not shown) may be engaged wththe' Some of the said said cap for supporting the container at the side of a wall or other object.

A head 3 of fibrous material, such as pasteboard, is located at the end of the body 1 opposite that end at which the cap 2 is located, and the said head 3 normally serves as a closure for oneend of the body. .The head 3 is provided atl its intermediate por- -tion with a series of radially disposed incisions 4, the material between which constitute resilient tongues 5. At its center-and between theinner ends of the tongues 5, the

-head 3 is `provided with a disk 6 which is ]o1ned at points 7 with some ofthe tongues 5. The container is adapted to hold and receive a stack of cups 8 which are 'nested one in the other as best indicated in Fig. y1 of the drawing. `When the container is used merely for inclosing the stack of cups duringshipment or at'other times, the disk'is in position at the lower side of 'thehead 3 and the tongues 5 extend transversely across vthe lower portion of the body 1. Thus the stack ofcups, while in the said body,l is completelyinclosedv and protected against dust 'and other foreign substances. l

When the container', is in'use for dispensing the cups it is mounted upon a suitable support as hereinbefore described and the' disk `6 is removed by tearing the-material at the points 7 of' those tongues 5 with which the said disk is connected. Thus the inner j ends of all/of the tongues 5 are disconnected from each other and when the body 1 is l positioned as shown in Fig. 1- the stack of cups 8 is supported by the tongues 5. By

thev actvof inserting the thumb andfore-nger of one hand' between the ends of oppol site tongues andthe edges of the'bottomiof vthe lowermost cup, and then pressing on the l.sides of the lowermost cup, the latter may bepulled downwardly tothe position shown `in Fig. '1'. By so pulling the loweilmost cup, Ithe vstack will move downwardly as indicated in Fig. 1. When the lower portion yof the lowermost cup 8 projects below the lower ends of the tongues 5, it is apparent i that the projecting'portiony of the said lowermost cup may be grasped and the cup may be pulled in a downward direction from be.

tween thel tongues 5 and disengaged vfrom the lower end of the stack of cups. As t e upperpedge' of the lowermost cup 8 pass between the tongues, the saidtongues spring in an inward direction and bearv frictionally against the'upper portion of the next lowermost cup of the stack. of cups, and thus the stack of cups is held in position in the body 1 as each lowermost cup is removed therefrom.

From the above description taken in conjunction With the accompanying drawing, it will be seen` that a simple and an eflicient container is provided for inclosing a stack of cups and that the said container'may be used to advantage during the shipment or storage of the cups, and also at the time that the cups are dispensed when about to be used.

It is further desired to mention that the closure-or cap 9. may 'be initially sealedV in any well-known suitable manner to thecylindrical body l, which, when taken in connection with the normallyintact formation of the opposite end of the device, Will fur-v nish'a means for rendering the device absolutely sanitary and dust-proof. It Will avoid tampering With the package which may result in the handling of the cups as will be understood.

As to the formation of the head 3 it is also desired thatit be observed that the destructible formation thereof is such that the cups cannot be fraudulently removed or the package 'tampered with Without detection. Thedesign ofpackage herein explained is also such that the cylindrical body is nonreusable` after the final cup of the original package or lot is dispensed.

Having described. the invention what is 1. A container comprising a body, a cap closing oneend thereof, ahead applied to the opposite end thereof and having at its intermediate portion radially disposed incisions, the material between Which constitute tongues, said head also having at its center a detachable disk which is connected at its periphery with some of the said tongues.

2. A lcontainer comprising a body, a .head 'applied to one end-thereof and provided at an intermediate portion with a series of radially disposed incisions, the material between which constitutes tongues, the said head having at its center a circular disk the periphery of which is joined at spaced points with some of the said tongues, the said disk being detachable from the tongues` thereby disconnecting the inner ends of all of the tongues from each other. p

8. A non-reusable container for drinking cups, comprising a body sealed at one end and provided at its opposite end with a plurality of normally fiat tongues, and a destructible central portion connecting the tongues and adapted to be disconnected from the tongues so as to permit the latter to be projected at an angle to the axis of the container and to collectively grip the cups and permit of the normal support thereof, whereby they maybe singly Withdrawn.

4. A device -forming the discharge end of i A an article dispenser, comprising a head having a plurality of normally Hat grippmg elements forming continuations of the head and disposed lin the discharge path of the articles, Y,means serving to normally hold the elementsin a common plane With each other and destructi-ble therefrom to ei'ect an active gripping relation of the elements to the articles on the discharge of the same from the dispenser.

5. A device for dispensing articles, including a member having a normally intact weakened discharge portion presenting a multiplicity of substantially symmetrical gripping elements adapted to yieldingly grip the articles on the projection of the,

same between said elements, and a destructible element normally connected with said gripping elements.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

HARRIET HILL.

Witnesses:

, JOHN A. DONEGAN,

GEO. F. BYRNE. 

